Assessing Autism

In this video Dr. Ozonoff gives a nice summary of the assessment process of students with  Autism Spectrum Disorder.  She makes some very key points that are extremely applicable to my experience of an educator.  The point that I found to be the most important is that data needs to come from a variety of sources.  This makes a lot of sense.  A BCBA is not a speech pathologist.  These two professionals have very different clinical minds.  They view similar skills extremely differently and use very different assessment instruments.  However neither of these perspectives is any more (or less) important than the other.  They are both skilled in their respective field and have an important contribution to make to any assessment team.  Another exemplary point is that you should look at the validity data for your assessment tools.  Honestly I have been administering Vinelands for the past three years and am embarrassed to say that I have yet to look at the validity data for the instrument (I know that the higher up people at my company have but that is still no excuse!). 
The Functional Behavioral Assessment fits into this in that it is also an assessment tool and it requires a whole team a approach.  In fact that is one specific way it fits in.  There is no validity tables for FBA's.  This is because each child is so very different.  However although there is not a validity table, the use of FBA's has been proven time and time again in applied behavioral research.  In fact the best way to assess there validity is to look at all the contributors and see if there is a matching pattern, after this of course you can evaluate the assessment based on the effectiveness of the treatment designed by the results of the FBA.
Educators are ultimately responsible for bringing the gap between clinical assessment and classroom work i.e. accessing the curriculum.  This is something they do in a variety of ways.  A) Educators are able to process the clinical assessment data and use it to develop need based treatment to their students.  B) They are able to administer assessments in a more natural environment with students they have an established relationship with, C) They are able to use the assessment data as well as day to day data to establish effective programs that allow their students to better access the curriculum.  Best practices I would recommend are to know your students (know their assessment data, their records, take the time to build a wonderful rapport).  Secondly be a highly regarded member of their teams (be in constant contact with their other team members, reach out if you feel someone may have a better perspective than your own, make sure your opinion is highly regarded ie: RESPECT THE OPINION OF OTHERS AND BE PROFESSIONAL!).  The last best practice I would recommend is not something I hear talked about often, really truly know your students skills realistically.  Perhaps they complete a puzzle for you, repeat a variety of words, imitate block designs, and follow your instructions but if they are just doing this with you it is a problem, I think an important part of bridging the gap is to teach for generalization.  Ensure each skill your students master is solid.  If they are asked to perform the skill from whomever in whatever setting they will comply or complete the activity.